Thursday, June 23, 2016

Niche Sites - Brainstorming - Part 1 (of 10)

A day or so ago, I got an email from Doug at the Niche Site Project. He espouses a 7-step process to get your website from bare (if any) bones to the transition from niche to authority site.

First off, you need a sufficient number of ideas for possible niche sites to make sure at least one of them is commercially viable. I got this idea to do a "list of 100 possible niche site topics" - a journaling technique for brainstorming. Once my list was finished, I went back through and put all the 1's (1, 11, 21, 31, etc....) together, all the 2's and so on. Hopefully this would make sure that each list would not have markedly similar topics.

Having one post in this series for each of 10 weeks may hold up the whole getting-from-idea-to-money-making niche site process too much, so I might jump horses mid-stream and change to analyzing 25 ideas a week, to shorten the completion time to 4 weeks (4 x 25 ideas/week) from 10 (10 x 10 ideas/week). If I have enough time over the weekend, I could even do it over the next 10 'business days' (Monday - Friday). But I chose the number 10 arbitrarily, because at the time it seemed like having material for 10 posts was a pretty cool thing!

In any case, I'm planning on putting crazy links to other parts of the series so people can navigate from one to the other with relative ease.

Each week I will eliminate the ideas that are too far out there (and there are a number of them, as always happens when making a list of 100). Funny thing is, there are also a few great ideas that weren't even on my radar when I started the process. Put that subconscious mind to work!

FIRST SET OF 10 IDEAS

1. BOOKS
This 'niche' is too broad. Why would people come to my site vs simply going to their favorite online bookseller? Luckily, I have several more book-related entries on my list in future installments of this series that may give me more viable results.

11. PETS
Pets (in general) is also too broad a topic. No sense starting out trying to be everything to everybody. Again, there are smaller divisions of this topic later in the list. Stay tuned.

21. INEXPENSIVE DATES
This idea has at least some possibilities. Even a site that is supposed to be making the site-owner money can benefit from the occasional 'freebie' to give away. Just ask my Kindle. ;)

31. WIVES OF KENTUCKY GOVERNORS
As I live in Kentucky, a lot of my ideas (including at least two in this post) have to do with my home state. The danger here, of course, is that the site would have to be exceptionally popular within the state. Just for giggles, I searched for "wives of Kentucky Governors" and went to the images section. There I found one picture of a gubernatorial candidate's wife, several photos of Kentucky governors themselves, pictures of random celebrities (especially those from those 'real housewives' shows), several pictures of that county clerk who refused to give marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples, as well as a picture of a box of Viagra and the three witches from the movie Hocus Pocus - not together, though.

Sorry, I had to get that out, because I was laughing so hard. It seems as more of a historial or educational site, as opposed to a commercial site possibility, though. 41. HORSERACING
I'm not talking here about a gambling site. (Eeek!) The idea of the red tape necessary for that one makes my head spin. I was thinking more like a history past and present site, and maybe souvenirs from some of the more famous races (Kentucky Derby, anyone?)

51. KENTUCKY HISTORICAL SITES
A definite possibility in the historic/vacation niche, but more difficult to develop (read time-consuming) , I think, than several others on the list.

61. HOMEBREWING IN KENTUCKY
I'm not talking only the home-brewing of alcoholic beverages, although a fair amount of that takes place already in Kentucky, of both the legal and not legal varieties. There is one commercial brewery and one home brewing supplies company listed in a search, both in or near Lexington, but a quick additional search lead to their website where a pop-up announced, "Our store is closed." This one could be a possibility, perhaps as a topic on a more comprehensive site.71. WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESSES
A little too broad and/or vague. Would need a narrower niche and a serious think about commercial potential for a site about other people's businesses.

81. WOMEN CAMPAIGNING FOR POLITICAL OFFICE
This topic came to my mind, of course, from the fact that for the first time, it appears that a woman will get the nomination of a major political party to be their candidate for the office of President of the US. How are the mechanics of entering into a campaign and running a (successful) campaign different for a woman (as opposed to a man).

91. HIGHLAND GAMES IN SCOTLAND
Wow. I would love to be able to take pictures (on site, of course) for a site like this. I am, of course, obsessed with all things Scottish, which is why this general topic came up several times in my list of 100. Weighing of the viabilities of various niches would need to be taken into account, and/or including information on Highland games in connection with information on the various Renaissance Faires that go on in the same area.

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At first blush, looking back over the list and the details of each item, I think #21 (inexpensive dates) would be the one that has closer-to-my-heart-and-abilities and commercially viable in the best proportion. There are several that are distinct possibilities, but would take more work (not that that is a bad thing) The only topics I really have ruled out already are the categories that are just to general (like #1, #11 and possibly #71).

So, are you or have you been thinking about setting up a niche site? Does this list give you any ideas for your own website, blog, or other creative endeavor? I'd love to hear about it in the comments!
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Future home of links to other parts of the series!